By Isaac Sabetai

Plan to privatize child welfare system passes Senate

Readers: Much of our website is experiencing technical difficulties, but your Political Insider remains up and running. So for the time being, all your state Capitol news – from the entire AJC crew – can be found here.

By Jaime Sarrio

Georgia’s child welfare system is headed for privatization by 2018 under a bill approved by Senate lawmakers Thursday.

House Bill 914 passed the Senate on the final day of the session with a 43-10 vote. It’s a compromise between the House and Senate, calling for a three-year pilot in select regions before the state totally privatizes the child welfare system in 2018. Originally, Senate leaders wanted to privatize the system, including foster care and adoptions, by 2017; the House wanted a pilot with no guarantee of expansion.

Next, the bill goes back to the House approval, and then onto the governor.